The Era of Gods

Of course, they truly had no other intentions, they simply wanted to find a safe place to store some Power of Faith.

The safest place on the entire continent, theoretically, now was here with Lin Xiao.

To Lin Xiao, the faith of a single province was but a trifle; he was not lacking in Power of Faith. Once he was ready, he would undoubtedly continue to expand his territory, at which point his abundance of faith would be even more self-evident.

Moreover, sheltering the two of them meant having someone of their own kind to talk to, to avoid loneliness.

After all, he was the only bachelor commander at present, with no one to talk to and no one to share his thoughts with.

Time, irrespective of how the situation developed, was silently slipping by.

The situation on the continent was ever-changing, and the newly formed Alphonso Kingdom had remained quiet, without any significant movements. This had eased the tensions of the two neighboring kingdoms.

Unknowingly, two years passed, and the situation on the continent had undergone tremendous changes. First, after years of internal strife, the situation in the Saernos Empire gradually became clear. Successive princes fell in battle, including the most powerful and first to take up arms, the second prince. Now, only two major forces remained in the Saernos Empire.

The former Imperial Marshal’s government, and Salnoss XIII, led by the seventh prince.

This seventh prince, after the defeat of the second prince, quickly took over all the royal heritage. With the covert support of human Descenders, he grew increasingly powerful. After retaking the Imperial City a year ago with a surprise attack, he now had the upper hand and seemed very likely to defeat the rebels and reunite the Saernos Empire.

In Imperial Capital Sael City, within the Imperial Palace, more than twenty human Descenders gathered. The puppet prince was currently seeking pleasure in another line of palaces nearby, completely disregarding affairs.

Brother Chao sat on the throne that only the Emperor could sit upon, while the other twenty or so Descenders gathered around, sitting casually, discussing important matters.

After discussing domestic affairs, Brother Chao immediately asked Xinhua:

“Has there been any intelligence from the spies in Alphonso Kingdom?”

Xinhua nodded:

“Half a month ago, there was information. Everything is as usual. There are no traces of Alphonso Kingdom mobilizing troops. This is the main force’s defensive posture within the country, and it hasn’t changed.”

He took out a map and laid it in front of everyone, pointing to several important markers, saying:

“Adjacent to Alphonso Kingdom, there are two kingdoms, the Finland Kingdom and the Sardinian Kingdom. Alphonso Kingdom has only arranged one legion at the major junction with these two kingdoms, and the rest of the main force is stationed in the Royal Capital, remaining unchanged.”

Brother Chao looked at the map for a long while before lifting his head and saying:

“Not moving doesn’t mean they’ll always stay put, keep a closer watch.”

Xinhua nodded:

“I will.”

Brother Chao sighed and said:

“Although our territory now exceeds that of Alphonso Kingdom, our comprehensive strength is still slightly inferior to Alphonso Kingdom, which has recuperated for several years. We must never stop monitoring it.”

At this point, someone spoke up:

“This Rore is really too reckless. There are still the Children of Nightmare and the Child of the Spirit Realm on the plane right now. At this time, he needs to cooperate with us to defeat the Children of Nightmare and the Child of the Spirit Realm first.”

“That’s right, I think he has other ideas and wants to swallow the whole plane by himself.”

“After all the help Brother Chao gave him, to think he would turn out to be like this….”

“Shut up!”

Brother Chao suddenly interrupted, speaking to the Descenders with a stern expression:

“Don’t say such things again in the future. It’s normal for Adventurer Organizations to help each other out.”

“But you helped him, Brother Chao, and he…”

“He has repaid the favor!”

Brother Chao said seriously:

“The thousand troops he sent to support us a few years ago have already repaid the favor. His help was very important to me, but those thousand troops were equally important. In my heart, they’re of equal value, enough to repay the past favor. I don’t want you to mention this again, and there’s no need to use it to threaten him.”

He picked up his cup and drank in one gulp, then said in a deep voice:

“I know what you’re thinking, but I, Brother Chao, act with integrity. Even if it’s a competitor, we should defeat them fair and square. Even if we fail, it’s just a matter of being outmatched with no reason to complain.”

Everyone fell silent, with expressions of both agreement and disdain, but all kept their opinions to themselves.

Xinhua’s disdain was even more evident in his heart:

“Asking me to go to Rore to demand resources and yet maintain face, so hypocritical!”

“Right, has the brother who went back to the Advent Base to buy promotion materials for everyone returned? We now have sufficient Power of Faith but no resources to ascend. As long as we unify the Saernos Empire, the vast faith will be enough for all of us to ascend to Official Totem Masters, and given enough time, it’s possible that everyone can advance to Totem Lords.”

Xinhua quickly came back to his senses and replied:

“They have been gone for half a year. By all accounts, they should be returning soon, probably this month.”

“That’s good.”

The same discussions were happening in different locations. The Children of Nightmare and the Child of the Spirit Realm were both deliberating on the continent’s situation and preparing for further advancements, but no matter the angle, none could avoid the now strongest entity, Lin Xiao.

As the first power to unify a kingdom, he had attracted the attention and importance of all forces, with each deploying spies in the Alphonso Kingdom to gather information to send back.

Lin Xiao was aware of this, but it didn’t concern him.

He pursued a noble and righteous path, overwhelming with absolute power; any trick or conspiracy was futile against his own strength.

This approach, coupled with ever more thorough preparations and his gradually growing personal power, especially recently, gave him the sense that he had become strong enough to touch the boundary of a Totem Lord. With the continuous support of resources from War Zone Number Five of Yan Huang, this incarnation of his was finally approaching the limit of an Official Totem Master and was about to advance to Totem Lord.

Soon, it seemed to be only one step away, but actually, that step was not so easy to take.

After all, in the Totem Civilization Universe, becoming a Totem Lord was equivalent to other civilizations in the Divine Realm Opening the Divine Realm, yet the totem civilization lacked a mature and perfected method for this process, and Lin Xiao himself had no detailed information about it.

Although he had once stayed with the White Tower Sect, he had never accessed the core of the school; he only had a conceptual understanding of how to advance to a Totem Lord, without any idea about the specifics.

It was like knowing that having a child required cooperation between a man and a woman–the man provides the gold, the woman provides the egg, and together they nurture an embryo.

Knowing that was one thing, but understanding the structure and components of gold and eggs, and why they could nurture an embryo was entirely beyond him.

Therefore, he decisively went to ask Lisha. After hearing Lin Xiao’s questions, she exclaimed with great surprise,

“You’re advancing to Totem Lord? If I remember correctly, you weren’t even an Official Totem Master before you descended? Where did you get the resources for the advancement? No, wait, do you have a way to contact the outside for resources? But that doesn’t make sense; the outside…”

Her barrage of questions showed just how astonished she was, her puzzled look exceedingly cute.

Lin Xiao waited for her to finish and calm down before he replied in a steady and formal manner:

“Firstly, I am indeed about to advance to Totem Lord. Secondly, I do not have a way to contact the outside world. Thirdly, although I don’t have the means to contact the outside world, I do have a way to obtain resources. I can’t tell you exactly what, but I can offer you some resources that you need, for a price.”

She responded with great joy:

“That would be wonderful! I have already accumulated a significant amount of Power of Faith, but without resources, I can’t advance. If you can provide some for me, I will tell you everything I know.”

“That’s good. First, tell me about the materials you need to unlock your talents, and I’ll prepare them for you.”

“My totem model is the Ice Spirit, a high-level ice demon. I’ve already unlocked three talents but need to unlock three more. The first is a legendary ice material of any kind, the higher the quality the better.”

“The second is the core of an elite Ice Element sprite; naturally, the core of an Ice Element elder would be even better.”

“And the last one is at least a legendary ice life form, such as an Ice Element Sprite or a Blue Dragon etc., the stronger, the better.”

“Hmm, is there anything else?”

“That’s enough. These three will suffice for me to elevate to an Official Totem Master.”

“And what about after becoming an Official Totem Master?”

To his surprise, Lisha immediately waved him off:

“If I manage to become an Official Totem Master, that would be quite an achievement. This plane will become dangerous before long. Sal and the others have already sent people to leave this plane for the Advent Base to purchase materials for advancement. But since people are complicated and everyone sent has their own agenda, the news will undoubtedly leak. Soon, a large number of Descenders will come here. By then, this plane will become incredibly complex and chaotic. Anyway, if the situation doesn’t look good by then, I’ll leave directly and won’t stay here.”

“Right, I can guarantee with certainty that the information about this plane will be leaked. You’d better prepare early for the influx of stronger beings.”

At this moment, Lin Xiao’s expression had become quite solemn. He nodded and said:

“Don’t worry, I have my plans and will have strategies in place.”

“That’s good to hear. Come here; I will teach you several methods for advancing to a Totem Lord.”

“There are several methods?”

“Of course.”

By the time he left, it was already the early morning of the next day. Full of thoughts, he returned to the church. Lin Xiao pondered for a moment, then ordered a Messenger to summon Afonso.

Although he had created Afonso, Lin Xiao was very careful in his actions, affording Afonso and other important subordinates ample respect.

After having an all-night exchange with Lisha—despite them being alone in a room where lines could inadvertently be crossed and delightful things done—the pertinent questions were still all asked.

According to Lisha, the key to ascending to a Totem Lord lay in Opening Totem Territory, which, in their words, meant opening an independent space, much like the Son of the Divine Realm opening their own Divine Realm. As for the specific methods of opening the Divine Realm, Lisha only had a general and unconventional method. The core foundational methods available within the major schools, although she was aware of them, were not in her possession.

Each school’s opened Totem Territory was unique. For example, Lin Xiao’s association with the White Tower had a corresponding method based on the meditation method he learned, capable of opening a